University of Minnesota Athletics
Hassan Mead First Gopher to Win Griak Title
9/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Golden Gopher All-American Hassan Mead set Minnesota history on Saturday (Sept. 26), becoming the first Minnesota men’s cross country runner to capture medalist honors at the Roy Griak Invitational. Mead, running his first meet of the 2009 season, covered the 8-kilometer course in a time of 24 minutes, 37.5 seconds.
Despite placing three runners in the top six, Minnesota finished fourth in the team standings with 101 points. Ben Blankenship posted an impressive fourth-place finish running a time of 24:56.9, while Matt Barrett tallied a sixth-place showing in 25:01.0.
Mead pushed the pace of the race early on then ran comfortably from the front and extending his lead. The defending Big Ten champion, Mead won the Griak crown by over 12 seconds over runner-up Iowa State’s Guor Majak.
“Coach (Plasencia) and I have been working on me getting out faster in the first K (kilometer) of a race,” said Mead. “I felt in control out there today. I was a little surprised no one went with me early on.”
Iowa State scored three runners in the top 10 to collect 71 points and edge Oklahoma (74) for the team title. Duke was third with 94 points. The title is the Cycolones’ fourth Griak crown and first since 1993.
The final two scorers for the Gophers were redshirt freshman in Pieter Gagnon, who placed 32nd in 25:32.8, and Kevin Lachowitzer, who finished 59th in 26:06.5.
Iowa State swept both the men’s and women’s Gold Race titles at the Griak, which celebrated its 24th year. Other men’s/women’s team sweeps were Providence in 1998 and Wisconsin in 1997.
Minnesota swept both the individual titles as Megan Duwell won the Jack Johnson Women’s Gold Race to join Mead as Griak medalists. It is the second time in Griak history that both the men’s and women’s champions were from the same school (Sara Dupre/Ben Noad – Providence, 1997).
2009 Roy Griak Invitational
Men’s Gold Race
Les Bolstad Golf Course – 8K
Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009
Team Scores
1 Iowa State 2-7-9-16-37-(50)-(54) 71
2 Oklahoma 10-12-14-17-21-(45)-(63) 74
3 Duke 3-13-24-26-28-(29)-(33) 94
4 Minnesota 1-4-6-32-58-(59)-(61) 101
5 Washington State 11-19-23-25-30-(44)-60) 108
* 18 teams competed
Top 10 Individual Finishers
1 Hassan Mead (Minnesota) 24:37.5
2 Guor Majak (Iowa State 24:50.3
3 Bo Waggoner (Duke) 24:53.3
4 Ben Blankenship (Minnesota) 24:56.9
5 Justin Tyner (Air Force) 24:57.5
6 Matt Barrett (Minnesota) 25:01.0
7 Hillary Bor (Iowa State) 25:04.4
8 Chris Lemon (Dayton) 25:04.8
9 Yonas Mebrahtu (Iowa State) 25:05.5
10 Bill Kogel (Oklahma) 25:05.9
Other Golden Gopher Finishes
32 Pieter Gagnon 25.31.8
59 (58) Kevin Lachowitzer 26:06.5
60 (59) Paul Hilsen 26:08.3
62 (61) Mike McFarland 26:14.3
70 Travis Burkstrand 26:27.5
102 Joe McFarland 26:55.3
130 Andy Richardson 27:39.5
135 Matt Volz 27:50.9
Despite placing three runners in the top six, Minnesota finished fourth in the team standings with 101 points. Ben Blankenship posted an impressive fourth-place finish running a time of 24:56.9, while Matt Barrett tallied a sixth-place showing in 25:01.0.
Mead pushed the pace of the race early on then ran comfortably from the front and extending his lead. The defending Big Ten champion, Mead won the Griak crown by over 12 seconds over runner-up Iowa State’s Guor Majak.
“Coach (Plasencia) and I have been working on me getting out faster in the first K (kilometer) of a race,” said Mead. “I felt in control out there today. I was a little surprised no one went with me early on.”
Iowa State scored three runners in the top 10 to collect 71 points and edge Oklahoma (74) for the team title. Duke was third with 94 points. The title is the Cycolones’ fourth Griak crown and first since 1993.
The final two scorers for the Gophers were redshirt freshman in Pieter Gagnon, who placed 32nd in 25:32.8, and Kevin Lachowitzer, who finished 59th in 26:06.5.
Iowa State swept both the men’s and women’s Gold Race titles at the Griak, which celebrated its 24th year. Other men’s/women’s team sweeps were Providence in 1998 and Wisconsin in 1997.
Minnesota swept both the individual titles as Megan Duwell won the Jack Johnson Women’s Gold Race to join Mead as Griak medalists. It is the second time in Griak history that both the men’s and women’s champions were from the same school (Sara Dupre/Ben Noad – Providence, 1997).
2009 Roy Griak Invitational
Men’s Gold Race
Les Bolstad Golf Course – 8K
Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009
Team Scores
1 Iowa State 2-7-9-16-37-(50)-(54) 71
2 Oklahoma 10-12-14-17-21-(45)-(63) 74
3 Duke 3-13-24-26-28-(29)-(33) 94
4 Minnesota 1-4-6-32-58-(59)-(61) 101
5 Washington State 11-19-23-25-30-(44)-60) 108
* 18 teams competed
Top 10 Individual Finishers
1 Hassan Mead (Minnesota) 24:37.5
2 Guor Majak (Iowa State 24:50.3
3 Bo Waggoner (Duke) 24:53.3
4 Ben Blankenship (Minnesota) 24:56.9
5 Justin Tyner (Air Force) 24:57.5
6 Matt Barrett (Minnesota) 25:01.0
7 Hillary Bor (Iowa State) 25:04.4
8 Chris Lemon (Dayton) 25:04.8
9 Yonas Mebrahtu (Iowa State) 25:05.5
10 Bill Kogel (Oklahma) 25:05.9
Other Golden Gopher Finishes
32 Pieter Gagnon 25.31.8
59 (58) Kevin Lachowitzer 26:06.5
60 (59) Paul Hilsen 26:08.3
62 (61) Mike McFarland 26:14.3
70 Travis Burkstrand 26:27.5
102 Joe McFarland 26:55.3
130 Andy Richardson 27:39.5
135 Matt Volz 27:50.9
Players Mentioned
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